Dremel Keytop Trimmer

[Mark Story]

I still notch with my laminate trimmer jig, but I quit trimming the excess
with a ballbearing laminate trimming bit. My notching jig is just like a
router table setup, but with a Rockwell lam. trimmer motor in place of a
router. My (former) trimmer _was_ a router with a ball bearing carbide
laminate trimmer bit in a router table I had dedicated for this so I didn't
have to set it up and down. My objection to the trimming bit setup is that
it has a tendency to slightly overtrim and reduce the overall width of the
key. It's not much, but I'm sure most of you have had to deal with
overtrimmed keys - even a little looks terrible and it's no fun to try to
repair. The other problem is that with weighted keys the bit guide would
follow the key lead and give you a nice little divot in the top. All in all
I just bagged it and consigned myself to fileing the excess by hand - I
usually ended up doing this anyway. You can overtrim by hand too, of course,
but at least it is under your control.

Mark Story, RPT
Eastern Washington University
mstory@ewu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul McCloud <smccloud@ix.netcom.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Wednesday, September 02, 1998 11:33 PM
Subject: Dremel Keytop Trimmer


>List:
> I mentioned in a reply to Richard Moody the keytop trimming bit I put
>together for my Dremel tool.  It's a no brainer, really.  It works just
>like a laminate trimmer, ie., the cutters are straight and cut flush to
>the edges of the keystick.  I use the router table attachment to the
>Dremel and trim the keys upside down.  The cutting edges of the bit are
>just above the surface of the table, exactly the same height as the
>thickness of the keytop.  Unfortunately you can't get it close to the
>notch, so you have to finish that by hand.
> I suppose one could do this just as well with the router attachment
>instead of the router table.  Just have to clamp the keystick to the
>bench.
> Tomorrow I'll check to see what the dimensions of the bit are, as well
>as the bearing.  They are common sizes, so you should be able to find
>the bearing at a good supply house.
> I did make a jig to lay the keystick on it's side, and used a straight
>router bit to trim the notch.  Since the bit has only two cutting edges,
>it did not cut very smoothly, and tended to pull at the plastic.  I had
>to recover one key that got away from me.  I don't think I will try this
>notching method again.
>
> Paul McCloud